Can opener



P 1965 c. s. MARDEN 3,206,849

CAN OPENER Filed Aug. 1, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl 2 2 IZVENTOR.

ATTOR NEYS Sept. 21, 1965 c. s. MARDEN CAN OPENER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 1. 1962 R m m V m ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,206,849 CANOPENER Carleton S. Marden, Cambridge, Mass., assignor, by direct andmesne assignments, of one-half to William J. J. Gordon, Cambridge, Mass.

Filed Aug. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 213,997 Claims. (Cl. 308.5)

The present invention relates generally to can openers, and moreparticularly to a device for severing the cover from a can by cuttingalong the inner wall of a can rim in a plane substantially parallel tthe cover.

The most common method for opening a can is to rotate a circular cuttingblade which is downwardly inclined about the annular side of the rim tosever the flat circular portion of the cover from the rim. This methodis objectionable for several reasons. First the cutting blade projectsdownwardly and therefore comes into contact with the cans contents whichmay result in contamination or objectionable odor or taste. Particles ofsuch contents often remain upon the cutting blade after a can has beenopened. Such contents, particularly when it is food, cause the blade tobecome covered with bacteria, decay or mold. Such deleterious substancesare then brought into contact with the contents of each successive can,unless the blade had been thoroughly cleaned and sterilized after eachuse. Second, the conventional method of opening a can leaves a severedcover with a sharp, generally ragged edge, which is dangerous to handleand which may readily fall into the contents of the can, with theresults that the contents are further contaminated by the fingers and byany harmful substances on the exterior surface of the cover.

In an effort to avoid these and other problems, several devices havebeen made which cut an outer wall of the can rim. Such devices doalleviate many of the previous problems, however, the outer cut edge ofthe can presents a serious hazard. The cut edge is normally sharp and insome cases jagged. Thus, in normal handling, users are apt to cut orscratch their hands on the outer edges.

Therefore, it is an important object of this invention to provide a canopener which may be used to open cans without bringing the cutting bladeinto contact with the contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a can opener in which thecover may be removed easily without dropping into the can.

Another object of the invention is to provide a can opener which issimple in construction and may be manufactured at a minimum cost whileinsuring adequate precision and dependable action in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a can opener inaccordance with the preceding objects which is capable of openingvarying conventional sized cans with a minimum of adjustment.

According to the invention, the can opener has an elongated main supportframe with a can gripping means mounted for rotation in a first planeand adapted to grip an outside wall of a can rim. An adjustable cutterassembly means is mounted on the frame and carries a cutter edge whichlies in and is mounted for reciprocation in a second plane preferablynormal to the first plane, The cutter edge is adapted to liesubstantially parallel to a can cover when the can is properlypositioned in the can opener for opening. Preferably the cutter edge andgripping means coact to cut the inner wall of the rim and simultaneouslyflare the rim outwardly. The outward flare prevents the can cover fromtending to drop into the can after cutting and allows easy removal ofthe cover from the can by a magnet carried by the can opener.

Other features of the invention reside in certain details ofconstruction, modes of operation and arrangements of the parts whichwill be more clearly understood with reference to the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment thereof, having reference to theappended drawings illustrating the same, in which:

FIG. 1 is a right side elevation of a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevation of the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional View taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4; and,

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 2.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and designatedgenerally at 10 in FIG. 1. The can opener 10 has a main support frame 28carrying a crank arm 13 and perpendicularly mounted adjustable cutterassembly 39 (FIG. 3).

The main support frame preferably comprises a rectangular cross-section,elongated bar 28 which is adapted to be mounted on a wall or othersupport structure at end 30. For various commercial embodiments it maybe varied in shape, or provided with various attaching means.

A cylindrical crank shaft 14 is journaled in the bar 28 preferablyperpendicular to the axis of the bar. The crank arm 13 is attached t afirst end of crank shaft 14 at a ferruled hollow end portion 62 by meansof a conventional set screw 50. The crank arm 13 has a pivotably mountedhandle 11 carried by pivot pin 12 from the crank arm. A second end ofthe crank shaft 14 is affixed to a can gripping bevel gear or wheel, 42.Preferably two bearing rings 43 are positioned between the bevel gear 42and the adjacent side of support bar 28 and provide a wear-resistant,free sliding surface allowing rotation of the bevel gear 42 in avertical plane. The bevel gear 42 has a plurality of gripping teethextending about the perimeter of the gear forming a friction engagingsurface 63 inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to avertical plane. The particular angle of inclination may be varied asdesired however, for most conventional cans an angle of close to 45 isdesired. In some cases the surface 63 may be rounded in an arcuate form.

Preferably a right angled positioning bracket 15 having a horizontalflange 16 and a vertical flange 17 is aflixed to an undersurface of thesupport bar 28. Flange 17 positions the side wall of a can placed in thecan opener in vertical tangential alignment with a plane slightlydisplaced parallelly from the planar end of the bevel gear 42 thuspreventing jamming of rotation of the bevel gear by the can sidewall.

An upper, flat, preferably generally rectangular block 19 is affixed tothe main support bar 28 by conventional means such as screws 44. In someembodiments, block 19 may be integral with bar 28. Portions of the upperblock 19 and support bar 28 are cutout to form channel 18 which ispreferably rectangular in cross-section. Preferably the channel 18 has acentral axis in parallel alignment with a central axis of the crankshaft 14 and perpendicular to the axis of the bar 28. A pin 60 is preferably mounted perpendicular to the flange 17 of the positioning bracket15 on the main support 28 and coacts with the positioning bracket toposition a can in the can opener by providing a top stop for the upperend of the can placed in the opener.

A reciprocally mounted sliding cutter assembly 39 is positioned with anend in the channel 18. The cutter assembly 39 preferably comprises asubstantially rectangular cutter bar 26 having an outer rectangularperimeter slightly smaller than channel 18, thereby allowing the cutterbar to easily slide within and be supported by the channel.

A slot 29 extends perpendicular to the axis of a rectangular bar 26along a top surface thereof.

An adjustment cutter handle 22 is linked to the cutter bar 26 by meansof a cylindrical shaft 66 passing through a vertically aligned borewithin the upper block 19 and having an aflixed eccentrically mountedguide pin 25 at a lower end. A collar 67 firmly affixes the shaft 66 tothe cutter handle 22 and aids in supporting the shaft 66 in its verticalposition. Vertically extending forward and rear stop pins 21 and arepreferably respectively mounted on upper block 19 and support bar 28 andprovide stops for the adjustment handle 22 allowing 180 rotation of thehandle. Rotation of the handle 22 in a clockwise direction causes guidepin 25 to exert force on side walls of slot 29 and slide the cutter bar26 towards the support bar 28.

Preferably, the adjustment handle 22, its associated shaft 67 and guidepin 25 can be removed by merely lifting out of the circular slot in theupper block 19. Removal of these elements allows removal of the cutterassembly from the main support frame bar 28 for cleaning or otherpurposes.

A magnet 27 is preferably firmly positioned within a correspondingcutout portion of the cutter bar 26 and is adapted to attract and retaina cover of a can placed in the can opener, both before and after thecutting operation.

With particular reference now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a cutter subassembly 31comprises a cylindrical cutter shaft 32, preferably having a centralaxis perpendicular to and in the same vertical plane as the central axisof shaft 14, is slidably mounted for rotation within a correspondingbore in the cutter bar 26. A circular cutter wheel 36 is afiixedadjacent the lower end of shaft 32 and preferably has a horizontallyextending circular sliding surface 38 mounted within a correspondingdisc-shaped cutout portion 67 on a lower surface of bar 26. The cutoutportion 67 acts as a bearing surface during the cutting action of thecutter wheel. A lower peripheral circular or annular cutter edge 37extends about the peripheral edge of the wheel 36 and is separated fromsurface 38 by an annular channel having a generally U-shapedcross-section. The cutting edge 37 is adapted to rotate in a planeperpendicular to the rotational plane of the bevel gear 42 and allowscutting of a can cover from a can body along a plane parallel to the cancover as will be more fully described.

The cutter shaft 32 firmly locks the cutter wheel in the position shownin FIG. 5 by means of a locking collar 33 affixed to the shaft by a setscrew 34 and a locking slide ring 35. The slide ring 35 overlies theupper block 19 when the guide pin 25 is positioned within the slot 29.In this position the shaft 32 slides within a U-shaped notch 69 (FIGS.2, 4 and 5), provided in the upper block 19 upon rotation of the handle22. It is a feature of this invention that when the parts aredisassembled the shaft 32 may be slid downwardly and lowered withrespect to cutter bar 26 thereby fully exposing the cutter wheel 36 forcleaning or sharpening as desired.

Preferably, the magnet 27 is positioned on the cutter bar 26 having alower surface just below the surface of the cutter wheel 36 to space thecan cover from the cutter wheel 36 so that the blade will engage theproper portion -of the can edge when the can cover is being cut.

The simultaneous flaring and cutting action of the cutter wheel andbevel gear is an outstanding feature of this invention. The verticalplanar mounting of the bevel gear allows the cutter edge 37 to be forcedagainst the can rim to outwardly flare the rim against the angledtoothed surface of the bevel gear and simultaneously cutting the innercan wall as best seen in FIG. 6. The outward flaring of the rim isdesirable to allow ease of removal of the separated cover from the canby merely applying upwardly directed force as by means of magnet 27. Acut line 69A may be formed in a plane substantially parallel to thecover and spaced well above the flat cover and preferably intermediatethe flat cover and the uppermost edge of the can rim. The separatedcover has a flared lip which tends to prevent dropping of the cover intothe can.

The particular dimension of parts may vary considerably in accordancewith standard commercial practices. In the preferred embodiment frame 28has an overall length of 7 /2 inches, while cutter bar 26 is 6 incheslong. Cutter wheel 36 has a diameter of 2 to /2" and preferably 1 inch,and bevel gear 42 has a diameter of 2" to /2 and preferably inch. Thecutter edge 37 is mounted to move in a horizontal plane a distance of 1"to A4 and preferably of an inch to its closed position with its nearestpoint to the bevel gear lying on or beyond a vertical plane passingthrough the toothed surface 63 of the bevel gear as seen in FIG. 6.These dimensions have been found to provide a highly compact opener.

With reference now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation of a can opener ofthis invention will be described. FIG. 5 shows the open position of thecan opener with the cutter wheel 36 spaced from the vertical plane ofthe bevel gear 42. The adjustment handle 22 is adjacent rear stop pin20. A can is placed in the can opener 10 by guiding the can againstpositioning bracket flange 1'7 and guide pin 60 with the cutting edge 37within the rim of the can and magnet 27 attracting the can cover. Thecan to be opened may be any conventional can such as steel can shown at50 in FIG. 6, having a substantially planar cover 51, side cylindricalbody wall 56 and a conventional upright rolled over rim 53 having aninner rim wall 54 and an outer rim Wall 55.

In most cases the cam is placed in the opener with the inner rim wall 54adjacent the cutter wheel 36 although it is also possible to guide thecan with the outer rim wall 55 adjacent the teeth 63 of the bevel gear42. Subsequently the adjustment handle 22 is rotated in a clockwisedirection until cutting edge 37 contacts the inner rim wall 54 andcompresses the rim 53 between the cutter edge 37 and the teeth of bevelgear 42. The compression action is completed by rotational movement ofhandle 22 about an arc of degrees.

When a cam 50 is clamped between the bevel gear 42 and the cutting edge37, the edge 37 bites into and cuts through the inner wall 50 at a pointon the rim and above the contents containing portion of the cam as bestshown in FIG. 6, above the planar surface of cover 51. Simultaneouslythe teeth 63 dig into the normally soft metal of the outer rim wall 55and the rim is flared outwardly against the angled toothed surface ofthe bevel gear. The crank arm 13 is then rotated causing the bevel gearto rotate and turn the rim 53 through 360 of rotation. Several turns ofthe crank 13 may be required depending upon the diameter of the bevelgear 42 and the size of the can.

After complete cutting is accomplished the cover 51 is automaticallyremovably afiixed to magnet 27 and handle 22 is rotated to its .originalposition to release the severed can rim from the opener.

Although a specific preferred embodiment of the invention has beendescribed, several modifications are possible. For example, the bevelgear 42 may be motor driven. The adjustment of the cutter assembly withrelation to the frame may be varied or mechanized.

Since it is evident that those skilled in the art may now make numerousmodifications and departures from the specific embodiment described, theinvention is to be construed as limited only by the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A can opener for cutting a can cover from a can body, said can openercomprising,

a main support means having can gripping means mounted thereon forrotation in a first plane and adapted to grip an outside wall of a canrim,

an adjustable cutter means comprising a cutter edge mounted forreciprocation in a second plane substantially perpendicular to saidfirst plane,

said second plane lying substantially parallel to a can cover held insaid opener whereby said cutter edge may be reciprocated into positionfor contacting and cutting an inner wall of said can rim while said cangripping means contacts an outer wall of said can rim thereby clampingsaid can rim between said cutter wheel and said cam gripping means, and

means for rotating said can gripping means.

2. A can opener for cutting a can cover from a can body, said can openercomprising,

a main support means having a beveled can gripping means mounted thereonfor rotation in a first plane and adapted to grip an outside wall of acan rim,

an adjustable cutter means comprising a cutter wheel mounted forreciprocation and rotation in a second plane substantially perpendicularto said first plane,

said second plane lying substantially parallel to a can cover held insaid opener whereby said cutter wheel may be reciprocated into positionfor contacting and cutting an inner wall of said can rim while said cangripping means contacts an outer wall of said can rim thereby clampingand outwardly flaring said can rim between said cutter wheel and saidcan gripping means, and,

means for rotating said can gripping means and said cutter wheel, saidlast mentioned means comprising a shaft affixed to said cutter wheel anda second shaft afiixed to said can gripping means.

3. A can opener adapted to cut an inner side wall of a conventional canrim to separate a substantially flat can cover from the can body withoutcontact of any part of the can opener elements with the contents of saidcan,

said can opener comprising an elongated mounting frame, a beveledgripping wheel rotatably mounted on said frame for gripping an outerwall of said cam rim,

said gripping wheel being mounted for rotation in a substantiallyvertical plane,

a cutter assembly means slidably mounted on said frame with adjustmentmeans on said frame for reciprocally sliding said cutter assemblytowards and away from said frame,

a cutter subassembly having a substantially horizontal cutter wheelrotatably mounted on said cutter assembly for reciprocable slidingtherewith,

a magnet mounted on said opener and adapted to attract and contact saidcan cover,

means for engaging said cutter wheel and said gripping wheel with saidcan rim positioned and locked therebetween,

whereby said rim is flared outwardly and said cutter wheel bites intoand through an inner side wall of said rim, and,

means for rotating said cutter wheel and for causing said cutter wheelto completely sever said cover from said can body as said rotating meansrotates said gripping wheel, cutter Wheel and can rim, said lastmentioned means comprising a shaft affixed to said cutter wheel and asecond shaft affixed to said gripping wheel.

4. In a can opener for separating a substantially flat can cover from acylindrical can body,

a cutter wheel having a substantially horizontal cutter edge mounted forrotation about a substantially vertical shaft,

said cutter wheel lying partially within a corresponding cutout portionof a supporting bar,

said shaft passing through said bar and extending thereabove,

means engaged with said shaft for normally preventing axial movement ofsaid shaft and for allowing axial movement of said shaft at selectedtimes, said last 6 mentioned means comprising a notched blocksurrounding a portion of said shaft and providing plural arms which aredisengaged from said shaft at said selected times.

5. In a can opener for cutting a substantially flat can cover from acylindrical can body by cutting an inner wall of an upstanding rim ofsaid can body along a cuting line substantially parallel to said cancover,

an elongated frame member having a beveled gripping wheel mounted forrotation thereon in a substantially horizontal plane,

a cutter assembly slidably mounted in a transverse groove in said frame,

said cutter assembly having a rotatable cutter wheel with a cutter edgemounted for reciprocal movement towards and away from said grippingwheel in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of saidgripping wheel,

a transverse slot extending across a surface of said cutter assemblysubstantially perpendicular to said transverse groove,

an adjustment shaft slidably mounted above said frame member and adaptedto rotate through an arc of degrees,

means on a lower portion of said shaft engaging said slot for actuatingsaid cutter assembly upon rotation of said shaft into a first positionwhere said cutter edge and said gripping wheel are widely spaced to asecond position wherein said cutter edge and said gripping wheel arerelatively close together and coact to simultaneously outwardly flaresaid upstanding can rim and cut said inner rim wall.

6. A can opener adapted to cut an inner side wall of a conventional canrim to separate a substantially flat can cover from the can body,

said can opener comprising an elongated mounting frame having ahorizontally extending axis and a transversely extending channel,

a bevel gear having a circularly arranged toothed surface,

said bevel gear adapted to rotate in a substantially vertical plane andbeing mounted on a first side of said frame by a horizontally extendingcrank shaft substantially perpendicular to said frame axis,

an elongated cutter bar slidably mounted in said channel for reciprocalmovement in a horizontal plane along an axis thereof perpendicular tosaid frame axis,

a vertically extending shaft mounted for rotation about its axis on saidcutter bar and carrying a cutter wheel at a lower end thereof a portionof said cutter wheel comprising a sliding surface bearing against acircular cutout wall of said cutter bar,

a lower portion of said cutter wheel comprising a circular horizontalcutter edge adapted to coact with said bevel gear to clamp and cut saidinner rim while simultaneously outwardly flaring said can rim,

said cutter shaft and said bevel gear crank shaft lying in asubstantially vertically extending plane,

a magnet mounted on said cutter bar adjacent said outter wheel andadapted to attract and hold said can cover,

means on said frame for reciprocating said cutter bar perpendicular tosaid frame,

can positioning means extending downwardly of said frame for positioningsaid can body adjacent a vertical plane spaced from the plane of saidbevel gear.

7. In a can opener, means for severing one end of a can along a line onthe inner wall of the can rim comprising a pair of wheels,

means mounting said wheels for rotation on coplanar and mutuallyperpendicular axis,

one of said wheels having a cutting edge and the other a frictionalengaging surface,

and means for relative reciprocal movement of at least one of saidwheels.

8. A can opener as set forth in claim 7, having means for rotating oneof said wheels.

9. A can opener as set forth in claim 7, wherein said cutting edgecomprises an annular edge defined on at least one side by an annularchannel having a U-shaped cross section.

10. A can opener as set forth in claim 7 wherein said wheel having africtional engaging surface comprises a means for allowing outwardflaring of a can rim positioned in said can opener.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 WILLLAMFELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD V. BENHAM, M. HENSON WOOD, JR.,

Examiners.

1. A CAN OPENER FOR CUTTING A CAN COVER FROM A CAN BODY, SAID CAN OPENERCOMPRISING, A MAIN SUPPORT MEANS HAVING CAN GRIPPING MEANS MOUNTEDTHEREON FOR ROTATION IN A FIRST PLANE AND ADAPTED TO GRIP AN OUTSIDEWALL OF A CAN RIM, AN ADJUSTABLE CUTTER MEANS COMPRISING A CUTTER EDGEMOUNTED FOR RECIPRICATION IN A SECOND PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULARTO SAID FIRST PLANE, SAID SECOND PLANE LYING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO ACAN COVER HELD IN SAID OPENER WHEREBY SAID CUTTER EDGE MAY BERECIPRICATED INTO POSITION FOR CONTACTING AND CUTTING AN INNER WALL OFSAID CAN RIM WHILE SAID CAN GRIPPING MEANS CONTACTS AN OUTER WALL OFSAID CAN RIM THEREBY CLAMPING SAID CAN RIM BETWEEN SAID CUTTER WHEEL ANDSAID CAM GRIPPING MEANS, AND MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID CAN GRIPPING MEANS.